A group of male athletes from Tri-County of Jamesport and Gallatin high schools is certainly hoping that warmer temperatures and clearer skies mean Old Man Winter has finally loosened his grip on Northwest Missouri.
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The spring baseball season is underway for area high schools, with first games coming up next week for Tri-County’s “new look” squad that includes an influx of Gallatin players in the first ever co-operative agreement between the two schools.
Officially designated as Tri-County w/Gallatin, the team is set to face Cainsville w/Ridgeway next Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Jamesport City Park, which will be the site of all 9 home games this season. This will be the second season for spring baseball at Tri-County, with more than double the participation numbers from last season due to the co-op agreement.
“The co-op agreement has been a welcome addition,” says Tri-County Head Coach Chris Wever. “I believe we will have depth at every position,” he adds. “The biggest effect the co-op agreement will have is on our amount of pitchers. With the pitch count rule, it is vital to have a solid group of pitchers and we believe we have that.”
By National Federation of State High Schools (NFHS) rules, no senior high pitcher may exceed the daily maximum of 105 pitches. In addition, different individual pitch counts require a certain amount of rest (days) between appearances. For example, a pitcher who threw 60 pitches in a game would be required to have 2 days rest before his next start.
Baseball practices started on Feb. 25, with the first four sessions able to be held outdoors. Since then, most practices have been forced inside.
“Both schools are contributing to a group of very talented young men,” Coach Wever said. “It has been difficult to evaluate positions so far, however, because of the weather conditions.”
Gallatin High School’s Dustin Pearson will serve as an assistant coach. Gallatin last fielded a high school baseball team in the spring of 1995.
In addition to Cainsville, other schools in the HDC participating in spring baseball are Gilman City w/North Daviess, Grundy County w/Newtown-Harris, North Harrison, Mercer w/Princeton and Pattonsburg. The HDC Conference, however, does not as yet recognize a conference champion in the sport.
In addition to HDC schools, other schools on Tri-County’s schedule are Trenton, Bosworth w/Hale, DeKalb, Novinger, Macon County w/Bucklin, Novinger, King City w/Union Star, Maysville and Southwest w/Tina-Avalon. The Tri-County team will also compete in the Mid-Buchanan Tournament on Saturday, April 13.
Post season assignments were released last Friday for baseball. Tri-County will compete in Class 2, District 16 along with Bishop LeBlond, Maysville, Mercer, Mid-Buchanan, St. Joseph Christian and Tarkio.